Gary Gregory, brother of murder victim Ellen Gregory Robb, speaks at press conference unveiling House Bill 492, introduce by state Rep. Mike Vereb, left, on March 5, 2013. If passed, the new bill will change the Crime Victim Act and allow victims or their families to provide testimony during a parole hearing. Ellen Gregory Robb was murdered by her husband, Rafael Robb, who was up for parole but was denied after family members were given an opportunity to speak to the parole board. Photo by Gene Walsh / Journal Register News Service

NORRISTOWN — A Montgomery County state lawmaker hopes to give confessed wife killer Rafael Robb “some good reading” material in prison if a new law is passed giving victims and their families face-to-face access to the state parole board.

Currently, families of victims of violent crimes have no guarantee they will be heard by the parole board, though they can send electronic pleas and messages asking the board to reconsider a parole decision on a particular inmate.

Inspired by the high profile murder case of the late Ellen Robb, state Rep. Mike Vereb, R-150th Dist., introduced new legislation Wednesday morning that would change the state’s Crime Victims Act.

Joined by local and state elected officials, law enforcement and victims’ advocates, Vereb said events surrounding the Robb case spawned the introduction of an amendment to the state law, which would “give a voice to all Pennsylvania crime victims and their families.”

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“This day — today in Pennsylvania — is when so many come united across party lines, across philosophical boundaries and stick up for one thing, and that’s our victims here in Pennsylvania,” said Vereb.

“This gives our victims their right to present their statement of updated testimony or information to the parole board member on the case, where before, it was transmitted via paper file, or in some cases, electronically.”

Introduced as HB 492, the legislation would change the 1998 Crime Victims Act to allow a victim or victim representative to appear personally before the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole and provide testimony in connection with an inmate’s application for parole.

“A tragedy that befalls us, that compels us to do the right thing, and that is exactly what has happened here. When Gary Gregory and I started this a few months ago to keep Rafael Robb in jail, we were focused on one case, and justice in that case, justice for his family. We had no idea that would lead us here today,” said Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman.

“In the fight for justice for Ellen Robb’s family, we found that victims across Pennsylvania were not being given their rights. Their voices were not being heard — they were not being really heard. That will change when this legislation is passed and signed into law.”

Gary Gregory, Ellen Robb’s brother, called it a “momentous day for the commonwealth.”

Carol Lavery, victim advocate for the Pennsylvania Office of the Victim Advocate, said that currently, the board is not obligated to hear face-to-face or even conference call testimony from victims or their families. The new law would require the deciding body to entertain all such appearances during the parole process.

In Gregory’s case, the chairman of the board extended a courtesy by meeting with him and Ellen Robb’s family, after Vereb, Ferman and others intervened. Robb was about to be released after serving a minimum sentence of five to 10 years for manslaughter.

In January, Michael Potteiger, chairman of the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, received a “less than calm” — Vereb’s words — letter from the state representative which demanded the board reconsider its decision and called Robb’s release “unconscionable.”

“For the past seven months, we’ve been working with Carol Lavery, with the Office of the Victim Advocate, to determine how to implement this process,” said Potteiger.

“Most recently, we began using digital recorders, wherein the past, when the victims went in to testify to a hearing examiner, it was an oral testimony that was written. Now, we have the availability through our digital recorders to actually hear the voices of the victims, for more of an impact.”

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane also attended Wednesday’s press conference in support of the new measure.

“We wake up every morning with the mantra of, ‘justice for all,’ and justice has no expiration date. What this bill does is it shows that the weight of a victim’s testimony is heavy and it doesn’t stop at any certain point in time in our judicial system.”